Lorries can't 'log' out of Camerons

Timber trucks banned on Cameron Highlands roads were spotted in Carnation Park, Tanah Rata yesterday afternoon / REACH

PETALING JAYA: Three fully-loaded heavy-duty timber lorries are now stuck in Cameron Highlands after the authorities were informed about their presence there by Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (Reach).

According to a Cameron Highlands District Council 1995 by-law, timber lorries are banned from using local roads from KM64.96 in Tapah to KM86.31 at the Blue Valley border.

Council secretary Mazlan Mohamed Isa said his officers had gone over to the site in Carnation Park housing area, Tanah Rata, on Tuesday evening and forbade the lorry drivers from leaving the area.

He said the owner of the lorries had been informed of the law and was told to find an different type of vehicle to transport the logs out.

“The timber lorries are not allowed on the road. We are now looking at what actions can be taken against those who break the law,” he told The Star.

The logs came from a patch of forest cleared since the middle of last year for a housing development in the area.

District forestry department head Zulfakar Ali said the area concerned was not state land or forest reserve and that a licence had been granted to remove forest resources from it.

“However, we will not allow the logs to be taken out of Cameron Highlands until this transportation issue has been settled between the council and the company,” he said.

Reach president R. Ramakrishnan, who had tipped the authorities off after Carnation Park residents spotted the lorries arriving at around noon on Tuesday, said action must be taken against the owner of the timber lorries as well as the housing developer.

“This is a blatant disregard for the law and they must be punished.”

Ramakrishnan said residents were also worried that the bridge leading to Carnation Park from Tanah Rata town would be damaged when the logs were being transported out.

He stressed that the bridge was not meant to bear the weight of heavy-duty vehicles and that the combined weight of the logs and vehicle would weigh several tonnes.

“The authorities must inform the residents on how they plan to address this concern. If that bridge gives way and there is an emergency, no one will be able to go in and out of the residential area,” he warned.